Minnesota Duluth checked in at No. 5 in the initial NCAA Division II Central Region rankings released Wednesday.
Fellow NSIC powers Concordia-St. Paul and Northern State are slotted first and third, respectively, while Washburn (Kan.) is second and Nebraska-Kearney is ranked fourth. Eight teams advance to the Central Region tournament, and three of those are automatic bids - the winner of the NSIC postseason tournament, plus champs from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and the Great American Conference.
UMD (20-5), ranked eighth nationally, has a chance to improve its standing with a trip to Northern State on Friday.
• St. Scholastica went on the road Wednesday to sweep a pair of UMAC contests, 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 over Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn., and 25-14, 25-9, 25-15 over North Central in Minneapolis.
Brooke Schermann led the Saints (11-17 overall, 9-7 UMAC) with 10 kills in the opener and did the same in the nightcap, a tally matched by teammate Emily Bounds. St. Scholastica held Crown to an .037 hitting percentage and North Central to .047.
ADVERTISEMENT
• Wisconsin-Superior overpowered Northland 25-9, 25-9, 25-13 in UMAC play at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.
Emily VerWay's 32 set assists were spread out as no player totaled more than six kills for the Yellowjackets (19-11 overall, 13-2 UMAC), who produced their 13th sweep of the season.
